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Setsuko Thurlow

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Setsuko Thurlow (サーロー 節子, Sārō Setsuko, born 3 January 1932), born Setsuko Nakamura (中村 節子, Nakamura Setsuko), is a

Setsuko Thurlow
Setsuko Thurlow on 27 October 2017
Born
中村 節子 Nakamura Setsuko

(1932-01-03) January 3, 1932 (age 92)
Hiroshima, Japan
NationalityJapanese, Canadian
Known forAnti-nuclear activism, Peace activism, Social work
AwardsNobel peace prize, Order of Canada, Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee award, Ahmadiyya Muslim Peace Prize

Japanese–Canadian nuclear disarmament campaigner and Hibakusha who survived the atomic bombing of Hiroshima on August 6 1945. She is mostly known throughout the world for being a leading figure of ICAN and to have given the acceptance speech for its reception of the Nobel peace prize in 2017.

Childhood and studies

Setsuko Thurlow was born in Hiroshima Kojin-machi (today suburb of Minami) in 1932 and is the youngest of 8 children. Her brothers and sisters being older and therefore having left the family home, she was the last one to live with her parents[1].

In 1944, she was enrolled in the Hiroshima Jogakuin high school where she participated in decoding progams of American military communications[2].

Experience of the atomic bomb

On August 6th 1945, she was working as a member of the student mobilisation program in the army headquarters (Higashi suburb today), located approximatively 1.8 kilometres or 1.1 miles away from the hypocentre of the explosion[3].

Around 8:15 AM, she saw a white bluish-white flash and remembers flotting in the air (the building collapsing) before she lost consciousness. When she woke up, a soldier helped her to escape from the crumbling building before it burnt down.

" [...] Although it happened in the morning, it was dark, dark as twilight. And as our eyes got used to recognize things, those dark moving objects happened to be human beings. It was like a procession of ghosts. I say “ghosts” because they simply did not look like human beings. Their hair was rising upwards, and they were covered with blood and dirt, and they were burned and blackened and swollen. Their skin and flesh were hanging, and parts of the bodies were missing. Some were carrying their own eyeballs. And they collapsed onto the ground. Their stomach burst open, and intestines start stretching out. [...] we learned how to step over the dead bodies, and escaped. By the time we got to the hillside, at the foot of the hill was a huge army training ground about the size of two football fields [...]. The place was packed with dead bodies and dying people, injured people. And people were just begging in whisper. Nobody was shouting in strong voice, just a whisper: “Water please. Water please.” That’s all the physical and psychological strength left. They just whispered. We wanted to be of help to them, but we had no bucket and no cups to carry the water. [...] So we went to the nearby stream, washed off our dirt and the blood, and tore off our blouses, soaked them in the water, and dashed back to the dying people. We put the wet cloth over their mouth, and who desperately sucked in the moisture. [...] That’s how most of the people died[4]."

Aerial view of Hiroshima after "Little Boy"
Street scene in Mitsubishi Steel Works plant (approximately 1.1 km from ground zero) after the dropping of the atomic bomb in Hiroshima, months after "Little Boy".

Eight members of her family (among who her nephew to who she often refers to[5][6][7]) as well as 350 of her classmates and teachers died during or soon after the explosion[8].

Thurlow describes that months after the bomb, she verified like others every morning that she was not developping purple spots on her body (Kaposi sarkoma?), symptom of a near comming death[9][10]. She has decribed the death of her uncle and aunt following those symptoms[11]. As many other hibakushas, Thurlow lost her hair months after the bombing[12].

Studies

As an undergraduate, Setsuko studied English literature and education at Hiroshima Jogakuin University before receiving a grant to study in the United States, where she studied sociology at Lynchburg College in Virginia[13].

She later obtained a master's degree in social work from the University of Toronto[14].

Anti-nuclear activism

The Peace Boat in New York City

Setsuko Thurlow's activism began in 1954 after the explosion of the hydrogen bomb of the code name "Castle Bravo" in the Bikini Atoll in the Marshall Islands which had nuclear fallouts until Japan[15]. This American weapon was approximatively one thousand times more powerfull than the one she had been victim of less than 10 years before. During her studying years in the USA, she has described receiving threats and agressions linked to her criticism of the use of the nuclear bomb by the American army[16]. In 1974, profoundly worried by the fact that the public tended to forget the devastating impacts of nuclear bombs, she founded the foundation Hiroshima Nagasaki Relived[17]. The organisation mobilised professors, artists, lawyers and teachers to inform and raise public awareness to the consequences of nuclear weapons[18].

She has since travelled in dozens of countries to testify as a hibakusha and raise alert to the existential threat of nuclear weapons, and eventually help to orientate to take action. She has several times been a crew member of the Peace Boat, a Japanese NGO promoting nuclear disarmement[19].

She has participated in several school presentations as a member of the project "Hibakusha stories" based in New-York, to testify before all-together thousands of students[20].

United Nations

File:Iaea-vienna.JPG
IAEA headquarters in Vienna, Austria

Setsuko Thurlow has several times testified and pleaded at the United Nations Organisation and has among other actions participated in the international conference of the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna (IAEA) about the humanitarian impact of nuclear weapons on December 8 2014, in favour of the nuclear non-proliferation treaty[21][22].

She was an active member in the ratification of the United Nations concerning the treaty on the prohibition of nuclear weapons, mandated in December 2016, and delivered the closing statement at the nuclear ban conference[23][1]. She also actively participated for its vote on July 7 2017.

"I've been waiting for this day for seven decades, and I am overjoyed that it has finally arrived.This is the beginning of the end of nuclear weapons."[24]

ICAN and the Nobel Peace prize

ICAN logo

Mrs Thurlow was a founding member and gave the key-note speech at the international launch of ICAN in Canada in 2007[25]. She is an leading figure of ICAN, which won the 2017 Nobel Peace Prize “for its work to draw attention to the catastrophic humanitarian consequences of any use of nuclear weapons and for its ground-breaking efforts to achieve a treaty-based prohibition of such weapons”[26]. Thurlow accepted the prize on behalf of the campaign at a ceremony in Oslo on 10 December 2017, together with Beatrice Fihn, the executive director of ICAN[27][28][29].

During her reception speech, Mrs Thurlow declared, in reference to the moment she was trapped under the building after the bombing and saved by a soldier:

"Then, suddenly, I felt hands touching my left shoulder, and heard a man saying: "Don't give up! Keep pushing! I am trying to free you. See the light coming through that opening? Crawl towards it as quickly as you can. [...] Our light now is the ban treaty. To all in this hall and all listening around the world, I repeat those words that I heard called to me in the ruins of Hiroshima: "Don't give up! Keep pushing! See the light? Crawl towards it. [...]Tonight, as we march through the streets of Oslo with torches aflame, let us follow each other out of the dark night of nuclear terror. No matter what obstacles we face, we will keep moving and keep pushing and keep sharing this light with others. This is our passion and commitment for our one precious world to survive".[30][2]

Private life

Setsuko married a Canadian historian, Jim Thurlow, in 1955 and the couple settled in Toronto in 1962[31]. Until his death in 2011, his husband took part in her anti-nuclear activities and has among others helped her to organize groups and conferences for the cause. They has two children and two grandchildren[32].  

Awards and distinctions

References

  1. ^ "From Asahi Shimbun - Memories of Hiroshima and Nagasaki - The Asahi Shimbun". www.asahi.com. Retrieved 2018-12-27. {{cite web}}: no-break space character in |title= at position 19 (help)
  2. ^ "From Asahi Shimbun - Memories of Hiroshima and Nagasaki - The Asahi Shimbun". www.asahi.com. Retrieved 2018-12-27. {{cite web}}: no-break space character in |title= at position 19 (help)
  3. ^ "From Asahi Shimbun - Memories of Hiroshima and Nagasaki - The Asahi Shimbun". www.asahi.com. Retrieved 2018-12-27. {{cite web}}: no-break space character in |title= at position 19 (help)
  4. ^ ""We Learned to Step over the Dead": Hiroshima Survivor & Anti-Nuclear Activist Recalls U.S. Bombing". Democracy Now!. Retrieved 2018-12-27.
  5. ^ Hibakusha Stories, Setsuko Thurlow: Calling For An End to the Atomic Bomb, retrieved 2018-12-27
  6. ^ Democracy Now!, Hiroshima Survivor Setsuko Thurlow Recalls U.S. Bombing, retrieved 2018-12-27
  7. ^ Shimizu Qingshui Megumi, Setsuko Thurlowサーロウ節子ノーベル平和賞（日本語字幕）, retrieved 2018-12-27
  8. ^ "From Asahi Shimbun - Memories of Hiroshima and Nagasaki - The Asahi Shimbun". www.asahi.com. Retrieved 2018-12-27. {{cite web}}: no-break space character in |title= at position 19 (help)
  9. ^ Democracy Now!, Hiroshima Survivor Setsuko Thurlow Recalls U.S. Bombing, retrieved 2018-12-27
  10. ^ ""We Learned to Step over the Dead": Hiroshima Survivor & Anti-Nuclear Activist Recalls U.S. Bombing". Democracy Now!. Retrieved 2018-12-27.
  11. ^ ""I Want the World to Wake Up": Hiroshima Survivor Criticizes Obama for Pushing New Nuclear Weapons". Democracy Now!. Retrieved 2018-12-27.
  12. ^ "Stream top music, sports, news and talk radio on SiriusXM". SiriusXM Streaming Radio. Retrieved 2018-12-27.
  13. ^ "From Asahi Shimbun - Memories of Hiroshima and Nagasaki - The Asahi Shimbun". www.asahi.com. Retrieved 2018-12-27. {{cite web}}: no-break space character in |title= at position 19 (help)
  14. ^ Sink, Bob. "Meet Setsuko Thurlow". Hibakusha Stories. Retrieved 2018-12-27.
  15. ^ "Setsuko Thurlow | ICAN". Retrieved 2018-12-27.
  16. ^ "Stream top music, sports, news and talk radio on SiriusXM". SiriusXM Streaming Radio. Retrieved 2018-12-27.
  17. ^ "Setsuko Thurlow | ICAN". Retrieved 2018-12-27.
  18. ^ "Setsuko Thurlow | ICAN". Retrieved 2018-12-27.
  19. ^ "Peace Boat - News & Press". peaceboat.org. Retrieved 2018-12-27.
  20. ^ Hibakusha Stories, Setsuko Thurlow: Calling For An End to the Atomic Bomb, retrieved 2018-12-27
  21. ^ "Setsuko Thurlow | ICAN". Retrieved 2018-12-27.
  22. ^ "From Asahi Shimbun - Memories of Hiroshima and Nagasaki - The Asahi Shimbun". www.asahi.com. Retrieved 2018-12-27. {{cite web}}: no-break space character in |title= at position 19 (help)
  23. ^ Studio Sangharsh, Setsuko Thurlow closing statement at the nuclear ban conference, retrieved 2018-12-27
  24. ^ Studio Sangharsh, Setsuko Thurlow closing statement at the nuclear ban conference, retrieved 2018-12-27
  25. ^ "Setsuko Thurlow | ICAN". Retrieved 2018-12-27.
  26. ^ "The Nobel Peace Prize 2017". NobelPrize.org. Retrieved 2018-12-27.
  27. ^ "Nobel Peace Prize speech by ICAN campaigner, Hiroshima survivor Setsuko Thurlow". Mainichi Daily News. 2017-12-11. Retrieved 2018-12-27.
  28. ^ "Hiroshima survivor to jointly receive Nobel Peace Prize with ICAN". Reuters. 2017-10-26. Retrieved 2018-12-27.
  29. ^ "Toronto woman who survived Hiroshima nuclear bombing to accept Nobel Peace Prize". Toronto Star. 26 October 2017.
  30. ^ "Nobel Peace Prize speech by ICAN campaigner, Hiroshima survivor Setsuko Thurlow". Mainichi Daily News. 2017-12-11. Retrieved 2018-12-27.
  31. ^ "Laurier presents lectures with Hiroshima survivor Setsuko Thurlow on confronting the nuclear age | Wilfrid Laurier University". www.wlu.ca. Retrieved 2018-12-27.
  32. ^ "From Asahi Shimbun - Memories of Hiroshima and Nagasaki - The Asahi Shimbun". www.asahi.com (in Japanese). Retrieved 2018-09-09. {{cite web}}: no-break space character in |title= at position 19 (help)
  33. ^ "Order of Canada". archive.gg.ca. Retrieved 2018-12-27.
  34. ^ "From Hiroshima to the Nobel Peace Prize". The United Church of Canada. 2017-12-08. Retrieved 2018-12-27.
  35. ^ "From Hiroshima to the Nobel Peace Prize". The United Church of Canada. 2017-12-08. Retrieved 2018-12-27.
  36. ^ "Setsuko Thurlow named Peace Ambassador by city". Hiroshima Peace Media Center. Retrieved 2018-12-27.
  37. ^ "2015 Arms Control Person of the Year Announced | Arms Control Association". www.armscontrol.org. Retrieved 2018-12-27.
  38. ^ "Laurier presents lectures with Hiroshima survivor Setsuko Thurlow on confronting the nuclear age | Wilfrid Laurier University". www.wlu.ca. Retrieved 2018-12-27.
  39. ^ "The Ahmadiyya Muslim Peace Prize | Peace symposium". peacesymposium.org.uk. Retrieved 2018-12-27.
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